Dog Trained

Clean Run is a GREAT place to buy some different toys for your pups. 10/10 recommend. https://www.facebook.com/share/1FMM3J4KDg/

I apologize, this is long. But I would appreciate you lending an ear as this is something that has been on my mind often this year.

The last few Mondays, we've experienced an unusual number of orders for one specific product through our Amazon store. This type of order tends to happen when a seminar presenter discusses a particular product at a seminar. But what's very different from past years is that even though the presenter said to buy the product from Clean Run, the people went to Amazon to shop; despite the product including shipping fees and not being eligible for Prime.

I understand the appeal of one-stop shopping for your dog at sites like Amazon and Chewy. We have stopped selling a number of products because we can't compete with their pricing on those product lines. They get distributor pricing while we get wholesale pricing. So for some popular dog toy brands, the price I pay to bring the product into the warehouse is the same as what Amazon and Chewy are selling it for on their websites. So Clean Run looks greedy if we sell those products because we have to mark up the prices; we can't sell products at our cost.

To make things even more complicated for a small business like mine, a number of manufacturers are now selling their products directly on Amazon. They set the price of their products below the price they require me to sell the product for (minimum advertised pricing). If I break MAP and charge the same that they are charging on Amazon, they won't let me carry the product in the store.

We have always tried to "think big" at Clean Run in terms of the projects we have taken on over the years and how we always try to present ourselves professionally. We also have a fairly big warehouse because, let's face it, agility equipment is big. But we're a small business. There are 6 full-time people, including myself, and 1 part-time person that are involved in the retail portion of the business. The government defines a small business as 500 or fewer employees, so I think of us as micro-small.

But being small allows us to offer advantages to our customers that the large corporation can't.

Small is quality. Curating awesomeness is a small company's superpower. We can't phone it in and order the same dog stuff you see on these other sites. We investigate dozens of companies and other small retailers, including ones in other countries. We sample, test, reject, re-examine, and fret to no end until we find unique products we think will meet your expectations.

Small is unique. We are highly attuned to the community we serve. Whether that means being super friendly and kind to people just getting started in dog sports, or super generous when our community needs assistance (situations like clubs whose outdoor spaces are wiped out by a disaster, and they can't afford new equipment). Over the years, we have played an integral part in spending money and resources to advance agility, including equipment safety changes and the adoption of electronic timing. We sponsored the seesaw study that led to design changes to make seesaws safer and perform in a more equitable manner for all sizes of dogs. We disseminated information about the importance of conditioning and strengthening before anyone was doing it. We share the same passion for dogs and dog sports as our customers.

Small is a robot-free zone. Think about it. Just how much do you dread dialing a big company for some of that down-home robo-service? Sometimes you have to spend time just trying to find the phone number on the website. Contrast that to our customer service who understands that not all dogs are the same and will spend as much time as necessary explaining the differences in the harnesses we sell and why we chose each one. They'll also ask for photos so they can see how the dog is built. Likewise, if you are just getting started in agility, will that company explain what you may need as well as offer options that fit your budget rather than upselling you.

Small is your voice. Every time you shop at a small business, you send powerful message to the world around you.

Small is happy. Small is family. According to research, 87% of small business employees feel it is more fun working at a small business and they like "feeling like family." They feel less stressed, more appreciated, and more heard.

I also like to think of Clean Run as a "local" business; that is, local to the agility community and now other dog sport communities as well. Our objective is to support those sports, the health and happiness of the dogs that do them, and the people who love them. While we have to make money to stay in business, our primary goal is not selling enough widgets to make the stockholders happy.

So next time you need to buy training equipment or supplies, think about shopping small. And that applies not just to Clean Run, but to the other small companies running canine-related businesses.

Monica Percival, Owner

At this point in time, most folks understand the link between pain and behavior. It’s logical: you don’t feel well, you have less patience and tolerance, you lash out or shut down or otherwise are not the best version of yourself. It makes sense that the same would be true for dogs.

But how do we know there is pain with animals who cannot verbalize that pain?

The short answer: we can’t know.

The longer answer: we also can’t know there ISN’T pain.

Meet Malus.

From puppyhood, he’s been a little spicy. But he’s a terrier, so that’s normal, right? He didn’t like having his feet handled. No biggie. And as he got older, he got a little reactive to other dogs - again, see “terrier” in the dictionary. And after he got neutered at 2.5 years old, his behavior spiraled - going after his housemates, aggression directed at his owners, even less tolerance for handling, increased fence fighting. But there’s some evidence of increased aggression after neutering, so maybe he just got unlucky.

For many folks, that explanation would’ve been enough. They would’ve worked on behavior modification, or just accepted a crate and rotate household, or managed the heck out of all of his triggers… or, honestly, would’ve ended up euthanizing him for his dangerous behavior.

Luckily, Malus’s mom is Katrina, who is essentially a terrier in a human body. She dug in.

Training, a veterinary behaviorist, consulting with other behavior experts, expensive testing - and then we got our first physical explanation: low zinc.

But even with a zinc supplement, his aggressive episodes remained unpredictable. Katrina had noticed some very, very intermittent lameness, foot chewing, butt/tail biting, so off they went to the first orthopedic specialist - one who cleared him orthopedically for all activities.

So they did physical therapy, and pain meds, and kept working on training.

But the weird, mild lameness continued, and so did visits to specialists. A neurologist who recommended an MRI, then more physical therapy for a possible psoas strain, different meds, another orthopedic/rehab specialist consultation, adjustments to physical therapy, a PEMF bed for home use, adjustments to behavior meds, consults with nationally respected trainers and behavior specialists, and finally - FINALLY - a recommendation to see a pain management specialist.

“I think he may have Tethered Cord Syndrome. I’m going to try different pain meds, but there’s a specialist in Massachusetts you should get in touch with.”

With the new meds on board, his behavior improved. He was brighter, happier, had fewer episodes of lameness, self mutilation, and aggression.

Yesterday, Malus had a dynamic MRI at Tufts, where Tethered Cord Syndrome was confirmed.

Today, he had surgery to relieve the adhesions to his spinal cord that have been causing him pain.

He was never “just being a terrier.” He was not acting out for no good reason. He didn’t need harsher training methods. He wasn’t aggressing for no reason.

He was in pain.

There are no words to adequately describe how thrilled I am for Katrina and Malus to have this diagnosis and surgery in their rear view mirror - it has been a long time coming. The strain on Katrina and Kevin’s emotions, time, resources, finances, and household over the last 5 years cannot be overstated. Most folks wouldn’t - and couldn’t - go to the lengths they did.

We can’t rule out pain. We can only rule out specific issues and diagnoses. For Malus, it took finding the right vet who had heard about this rarely diagnosed issue to connect them with the vet who could help.

To my clients I encourage to work with their veterinarian to try to find any physical explanations: Katrina and Malus are the reason why I will push you more if your primary care vet shrugs you off. It’s why I will push and push and push, especially if your commitment to training and management is excellent but we still are struggling to make progress. Malus is on my shoulder (sometimes literally), poking me with his nose, screeching in my ear to look harder.

If you’ve ever heard him, you know how hard that ✨ delightful ✨ noise is to ignore.

(PS - Here’s your sign to sign up for pet insurance.)

To learn more about Tethered Cord Syndrome:
https://vet.tufts.edu/news-events/news/breakthrough-surgical-procedure-relieves-dogs-chronic-pain